{"id":10864,"date":"2019-03-22T07:27:36","date_gmt":"2019-03-22T11:27:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/?p=10864"},"modified":"2019-03-22T07:27:36","modified_gmt":"2019-03-22T11:27:36","slug":"small-worlds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/2019\/03\/22\/small-worlds\/","title":{"rendered":"In \u2018Small Worlds,\u2019 Artists Fashion Tiny Models Of Dreams And Nightmares"},"content":{"rendered":"

In \u201cSmall Worlds: Miniatures in Contemporary Art\u201d<\/a>\u2014at the University of Vermont\u2019s Fleming Museum of Art in Burlington from Feb. 13 to May 10, 2019\u2014artists adopt the techniques of dioramas, model train figures and architectural models to invent tiny worlds that reflect our dreams and fears.<\/p>\n

\u201cMiniatures, reminiscent of our childhood playthings, can recall in us that sense of wonder for the world around us, but can also suggest dark forces hidden beneath the seduction of the small,\u201d the opening sign says. \u201cAs our inherent attraction to the miniature pulls us into the imagined world of the artist, real-world traumas such as violence, displacement, and environmental disaster are brought to our attention in intricate and intimate ways.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Mohamad<\/a>
Mohamad Hafez, “Hiraeth,” 2016. (Courtesy University of Vermont\u2019s Fleming Museum of Art)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Syrian-born, Connecticut-based sculptor Mohamad Hafez described himself to me in 2017 as \u201can artist witnessing the death of his country.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think people ever anticipated this amount of viciousness and devastation,\u201d he told me. \u201cIt caught us completely by surprise. I don\u2019t think I picked up a single pencil in the first year of the conflict. I was so much in awe and traumatized. It wasn\u2019t until two years into the war [that he made art again], I was so filled up and exploded.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hafez turns cast plaster, paint, parts of old radios and fans, rusty drill bits and nails into heartwrenching models of abandoned cities smashed to ruins.<\/p>\n

\"Lori<\/a>
Lori Nix \/ Kathleen Gerber, “Library (detail),” 2007. (Courtesy University of Vermont\u2019s Fleming Museum of Art)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Lori Nix + Kathleen Gerber create photographs of models of abandoned subways and bars and libraries overgrown by nature. Allison May Kiphuth cuts out her watercolor paintings to create environmental dioramas. Thomas Doyle fashions miniature people and homes beset by strange end-of-the-world floods and train crashes and earthquakes.<\/p>\n

\"Matt<\/a>
Matt Neckers and his “Vermont International Museum of Contemporary Art + Design (VTIMoCA+D),” a museum of miniature art. (Courtesy University of Vermont\u2019s Fleming Museum of Art)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The exhibition also features Brian D. Collier\u2019s \u201cThe Traveling Museum of Very Small Objects\u201d and Matt Neckers\u2019s \u201cVermont International Museum of Contemporary Art + Design (VTIMoCA+D),\u201d which offers galleries of miniature artworks showcased inside old suitcases and a refrigerator.<\/p>\n

Corin Hewitt has constructed a miniature version of his family\u2019s cabin in East Corinth, Vermont. Joe Fig creates models of the studios of esteemed artists. Minimiam (Akiko Ida + Pierre Javelle) create funny scenes by setting miniature people in worlds made from actual fruit, pastries and ice cream.<\/p>\n

\"Sally<\/a>
Sally Curcio, “Happy Valley (Fall),” 2016. (Courtesy University of Vermont\u2019s Fleming Museum of Art)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The blue Connecticut River winds through the patchwork green and autumn orange of tiny fields and the Holyoke Range of central Massachusetts in Sally Curcio\u2019s \u201cHappy Valley (Fall)\u201d from 2016.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I was a child I used to play on swings and look at blocks and imagine I was miles above the ground,\u201d the Northampton artist told me in 2013.<\/p>\n

Her \u201cBubbles\u201d are miniature worlds, a foot square, sealed under clear plastic domes in which foam and flocking bejeweled with beads become glittering trees and delicate futuristic towers. She has created a futuristic \u201cOrbit City,\u201d dream versions of New York and Miami Beach, a pair of desert islands, Sherwood Forest, the North Pole, Atlantis.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is perfection in here,\u201d Curcio told me. But \u201cit has that fragility to it. It could be popped.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

If this is the kind of coverage of arts, cultures and activisms you appreciate, please support Wonderland by contributing to Wonderland on Patreon<\/a>. And sign up for our free, weekly newsletter<\/a> so that you don’t miss any of our reporting.<\/em><\/p>\n

\n
\"Thomas<\/a>
Thomas Doyle, “Staging Area,” 2014. (Courtesy University of Vermont\u2019s Fleming Museum of Art)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Joe<\/a>
Joe Fig, “Hillary Harkness: July 17, 2013,” 2014-15. (Courtesy University of Vermont\u2019s Fleming Museum of Art)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In \u201cSmall Worlds: Miniatures in Contemporary Art\u201d\u2014at the University of Vermont\u2019s Fleming Museum of Art in Burlington from Feb. 13 to May 10, 2019\u2014artists adopt the techniques of dioramas, model train figures and architectural models to invent tiny worlds that reflect our dreams and fears. \u201cMiniatures, reminiscent of our childhood playthings, can recall in us […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10857,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[100],"tags":[537,539,536,538,535],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10864"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10864"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10864\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10869,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10864\/revisions\/10869"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10857"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10864"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10864"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10864"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}